How much do you think the price of a sandwich at McD will rise when the minumum wage goes to $15 per hour?

I am happy to say I have not eaten at a McDonald’s in years. The last time I ate there, I thought the hamburgers were made of dross.

As for your engineering, how many burgers could you cook on a lava flow?

Luckily there is a Burger King across the street and the free market works. So there probably won’t be a increase unless there is collusion.

I have worked at shit jobs where there was freak outs about hours being cut and prices going up when the minimum wage increases. Never has actually played out that way.

I can walk up to Wendy’s and get a 129 cent cheeseburger. Hey, they were 99 cents in 1996. Our minimum wage was 4.25 in 1996 and is now 9.25. But wage is pretty much irrelevant when you factor in the CPI. The lease and, water, and electric, and insurance, and so on.

At the theater I worked at they had targets for our daily payroll percentage. It normally came in around 7 percent.

It’ll go up exactly as much as the Corporate office and/or the franchise owner wants them to. The cost of a McDouble has gone up 69% in the last six months, and that’s without raising wages at all.

It’s already a better value to go and sit down at a proper eatery. McD’s will have to reinvent itself if that happens.

I would appreciate the lack of spit in my burger. I’m for pay wage hikes.

@RedDeerGuy1 You’ll still get the spit.

@LuckyGuy you failed to follow the wage increase across the board.
All McDonald’s suppliers are on as thin a profit margin as the behemoth can squeeze out of them.
Raising minimum wage 33% is going to raise the price of virtually everything McDonald’s uses, from meat to cleaning supplies. Maintenance. Landscaping.

The pressure to use products made outside the US will be even more irresistible because, dammit, Americans want 99¢ carcinogenic burgers to mollify the kiddies.

More like four bucks

My point, if my math is correct, is the increase to $15 per hour is an insignificant part of the sale price of the product.
@ibstubro You bring up a good point . The price of cheese will also go up, as will the price of buns as will the price of…etc. But, I figure the other suppliers down the line have similar markup rates. So their true price increases will be insignificant as well.

Maybe the increase for the Domincans working out in the fields cutting lettuce at slave labor rates will have an effect. Hah! Who am I kidding!

@johnpowell 7% is a good number to know. Thank you! Using that number that means if the wages go up 50%, the ticket price should go up 3.5% or 35 cents on a $10 ticket. Peanuts.

Yes, lets take that “bun” back to the grain elevator (we all know farm prices are skewed unrelated to wage).
So, the price of grain goes up a mere 3.5%.
Meh. They pass it on to the flour mill.
Meh. The flour mill passes that increase on to the baker, as well as their own 3.5%.
Hmm. The bakery’s now paying 7% more for flour and the 42 other ingredients they need to make a McBun? No! Of course not. Transportation costs have risen, too….....

I don’t question your calculations.

I don’t think prices will go up at all. The reason: competition. McDonalds is already hurting from the quality and market share standpoint. Fast food is everywhere and you can get a better (more nutritious) meal within 1000 feet of most McDs for the same price.

So there is very little price elasticisty for franchise owners. If they don’t want to lose customers, they will keep their prices below the other guys.

What is more likely to happen is that owners will reduce their profits by a little, or cut back on promotions, or give less money to the local high school.

And some of the truly marginal franchises – the ones where the owner is barely making it as it is, will close.

The price associated with arbitrary increases in minimum wage is not just manifest in the cost of the product.

There are other compromises cutomers should not be willing to accept.

McDonald’s has attempted to address the issue of overpriced labor by replacing human associates with touchscreen ordering kiosks.

These abominations are incapable of comprehending the nuances found in human to human interaction.

When I choose to give my custom to a business I understandably expect to interact with a human (especially one capable of understanding my clear, native English speech).

Whether it be McD’s “solution” or the insufferable self checkouts at grocery stores, government mandated wage hikes are resulting in a breakdown of the wonderful thing that is quality customer service.

If when entering into an exchange with a business all you are able to count as value is the monetary price, shame on you.

I dunno… if I order from a kiosk that’s one less person available to drop the ball on my “extra pickles” request.

^ I’d rather run the risk of experiencing the occasional human error in order to enjoy proper human interactive experience.

It’s okay, as every year passes the concept of real customer service in exchange for monies paid becomes lost on more and more of the public.

Academic studies on the effect of $15 minimum wage in Seattle and other cities show the cost of a McDonalds or Burger King meal goes up about 4.3%. So a $3.99 Big Mac (or Whopper) goes up to $4.16.

That’s a minimal amount.

^ It is not a minimal amount if one is thinking in terms of principle:

In yet another way government is reducing the buying power of my hard earned dollar.

But raising the minimum wage has also been shown to increase wages overall and also to increase business. Minimum wage earners place all of their earnings back into the economy pretty quickly.

^Lets force corporations to pay the average clerk as though he or she was a CEO.

Everyone is suddenly making more.

The result? Again the value of each individual dollar decreases.

I would hardly consider the 30 seconds of interaction with a bored, underpaid wage slave who hears beeping French fry boilers in their sleep a “proper human interactive experience”.

@zenvelo Thanks for the data. My estimate was not that far off.

@Seek

Professionalism should be found in all professions.

Any job is a dignified and the employee considers it and makes it.

Jesus, how bad does unemployment need to get before those that are employed conduct themselves in a way that suggest they appreciate having a job?

Your perspective regarding fast food employees only makes the problem worse.

I’ve been the fast food employee. When you make less per hour than it costs you to pay someone to care for your child, it’s understandable that you might be less than enthusiastic about your time spent behind the counter.

Having “a job” isn’t good enough if that job doesn’t provide sufficient compensation for your time.

If you don’t support food service workers earning a living wage, you should stop eating out.

This former bartender, barback, server, backwaiter, busser, closer, FOH manager knows ALL about foodservice and was much quicker than you to suggest that those that don’t get the caterer/host-guest relationship they should stay at home and have a date with their microwave instead.

Entry level positions in fast food outlets have never been intended to meet the needs of parents of multiple children. Part time employees/students need jobs too.

Just because the term “living wage” has been coined doesn’t mean the idea behind it is valid.

Different people’s time holds different values based on their individual situation.

A young fast food employee might hold the position for the experience. Perhaps they just need enough cash to keep them in gasoline and beer.

Believe me hon’, Fast food doesn’t qualify as “eating out.”

Ok, @LuckyGuy, I, in no manner, claim economic insights, but two thoughts that came to my mind. See if you can decipher what I am questioning, if you would, please?
Because there are McD eateries located all around the world, wouldn’t that factor into this equation also? The monetary loss due to increased wages in one, larger market- would it not be like the ripple effect in covering such changes and be absorbed into it’s world-wide operations? Let the changes ebb and flow throughout all of the McD eateries around the world? Would that be a method of balance? Yes?
Also, just asking- isn’t there a pretty competitive market to be a supplier of goods to the chain, therefore if someone tries to raise prices on some items, as mentioned above, wouldn’t a change in supplier/vendor be logical for this gazillion dollar industry to implement? Which, in turn, would keep things more cost-effective? No?
Maybe’s on both?
As I said, I sent my twin sister Frieda to cover any of my classes with such studies, so I am more or less asking??? (Frieda took off before exams….damn her.)

I think if the OP’s calculations are correct, it will go to a price somewhere between $3.79 and $5.25.

Raise the minimum wage that much and corporate can blame high prices on the wages no matter what the real math is. It will be especially fabulous if the wage increase happens under a President who is a Democrat. Actually, no matter what the liberals will be blamed for higher prices at the McD’s. They will say poor democrats are voting against themselves.

Eventually, we will hear reports of huge profits. The stockholders will be making a fortune.

I just now came across this article on McD’s newest. It brings up some points being discussed here. Enjoy:

Big Mac with a side of quinoa? Inside the world’s first McDonald’s Next http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/11/foodanddrink/hong-kong-mcdonalds-next/index.html

If a job does not pay enough to support living, it is not worth doing.

@ragingloli There are people who don’t need to make a livable wage. Teenagers are the most obvious.

Then there is the fact that many couples have been double income for many years, because making it on one salary was tough.

I want to raise the minimum wage, and I think anyone who works full time should be able to live on the wage in a safe place. I’m not sure they will necessarily be able to live in their own home, own a car, and be able to save a little for the future on the minimum.

What is a livable wage? Livable for one person to support themselves? What about livable for a parent? What is their minimum? Are you going to raise that amount?

Some teenagers absolutely DO need a liveable wage.

Some do. They are living as adults.

Yeah.

Or they’re paying 30,000 a year for school, and books, and whatever.

I have a serious problem with valuing a minimum wage based on what a 16 year old rich kid would be satisfied working for.

most minimum wage workers are adults. An increasing number of them have college degrees. The three biggest employers in the country are low wage, retail and food service. The “kid looking for pocket money” is a chupacabra, not a basis for comparison.

@Seek You make good points. I’m not thinking of the rich kid. I wasn’t a rich kid at 16, not close. We were middle class (because both of my parents worked full time) and I worked and paid for all my clothes and spending money. I didn’t have to pay for shelter though. Shelter is a huge expense.

I do believe in paying a person what the job dictates, I don’t think a teen should be paid lower than an adult because of their age. I don’t think a man or single mom should be paid more than a single person without kids, because they have more mouths to feed. I’m not saying you think they should, I’m just making examples.

I want to raise the minimum, I’m just not in favor of the $15 minimum. Not yet anyway, I might change my mind.

So is this were we start getting pissed that a person flipping burgers makes as much as you do?

Really, that boils down to you thinking you are more valuable to society then they are.

How about instead of dragging them down you fight to bring yourself up? Unions are a thing. They weren’t magically handed that 15 a hour. They fought for it and won. Stand the fuck-up and turn off the TV and fight for yourself like they did.

@LuckyGuy :: At the theater our power and water bill was more than payroll. Negotiations with the butter flavoring company had more of a effect on price than the minimum wage.

@johnpowell I don’t know if you are directing that at me, but my answer to your question is, not at all. I lean more towards flattening pay scales than most. I don’t know why flipping burgers is always in the media, but I certainly don’t think that is the lowest of the low in jobs or anything like that. I want them to make a decent wage. I figure being in a McD’s kitchen can have quite a bit of pressure, and I certainly want someone who cares about doing their job well making my food.

I just got through working for a job I feel I was incredibly underpaid. It was annoying, but had some perks so I stuck with it. It was the least I have made in 20 years. A minimum would not have helped me much, it had more to do with the market allows for it in that area of the country.

I just found out two days ago one of the guys who works full time at the front desk at the hotel I am staying at makes $8.50 an hour, and I’m pretty disgusted about it.

Edit: really disgusted about it.

Seattle’s minimum wage was already $11 an hour. January 1st, $13 an hour.

So raising the minimum wage in Seattle from $11 to $15 raises the cost of a McDonald’s or Burger King meal 4.3%, or 1.1% per dollar increase in minimum wage. And that doesn’t address the cost increase for the entree (Whopper, Big Mac) because you’re talking about bundling with high profit fries and drink.

This began as an engineering problem.

This:
$15 minimum wage, or more than doubling pay, would cost about $0.27 more per dollar
from a story downplaying the cost of a $15 minimum wage. They decry the high cost of beef while ignoring the fact that the American meat packing industry is based on paying immigrant labor minimum wage.

I can’t find a McDonald’s menu in Seattle, but I’ll guess that a Big Mac meal is is $9.
Calculate 4.3% and 13% increases, add sales tax.

Additional cost of goods and serviced McDonald’s buys that have to be passed on to the consumer??

I worked in administrative support for my local government’s planning and permitting department. I managed 12 people’s calendars, a 25-line phone system, and answered 98% of walk in questions during the county’s largest housing boom, as well as proofreading documents, processing mail, filing, organizing the engineers’ offices for them, etc.

All for $6.50/hr, because that was minimum wage, and that’s all I was worth to them.

They couldn’t find their own asses with both hands for their $45/hr, but hey, they were important.

Luckily at that time I was living alone, so I could afford to spend an entire 2-week paycheck on renting a room in someone else’s house.

@Seek That’s ridiculous. I’m disgusted by that too.

Australia’s minimum wage is something like $15 or $16 an hour and their Big Mac is cheaper than the us one, also people are getting all bent out of shape over this, and that is what the Rep/cons want, it’s not going up to that over night,it will be in increments over several years,isn’t it time that more nimum wage became a living wage?
The right scream for smaller government, well stop making the poor depend on it so much and you might get your wish.

@SQUEEKY2 I think a potential problem is the climate in America now is to blame the government for high prices and at least half the populations eats that talk up.

People are blaming Obama got high health costs, when America was already out of control with health costs. The insurance companies can double their fees and double their profits singing the Obama and government song and no one is rally checking what’s really going on. Some of what Obama did in health care did cause more expenses for employers and insurance companies, but nothing to justify what is going on in fees to consumers, and certainly high fees before Obama can’t ben blamed on him, but a huge portion of America has amnesia.

My point is Australia might not take advantage of increasing prices on hamburgers, but I think America will.

I could be wrong.

Yeah, what’s wrong with @SQUEEKY2‘s Canadian model:

The minimum wage rate applicable in regard to employees under federal jurisdiction is the general adult minimum rate of the province or territory where the employee is usually employed.

That sets no federally mandated minimum wage since 1996?

If the only thing stopping us from raising the minimum wage is the price of a goddamn cheeseburger, we need to do it already.

In my fantasy world companies and governments should pay a fair wage out of integrity and the golden rule, but since that doesn’t seem to be the American way, I support raising the minimum wage. We have to. It’s ridiculously low.

My thing is, if companies paid better wages we wouldn’t need the regulation. It might be perfectly reasonable to pay $8.50 for some jobs, but since companies are paying that to people who are responsible for multiple tasks, who are making important decisions, then tough shit. They, the companies, are too stingy, so they will eventually be forced to pay more. Maybe more than if they had paid a more reasonable wage to begin with. It’s the backlash that they leave themselves open to by pushing too far.

This is working perfectly. The poor are fighting the poorer and the rich laughing all the way to Arbys.

Most of these jobs are going away in the next couple of decades. Almost a moot point IMO.
When I was 19 I lived off of an $8.50/hr job but worked a lot of overtime. This was in 1996. It covered rent, utilities, food, gas, insurance and not much else. In 2000 I was making $16/ hr in a research lab and thought I was still “getting by” but there was enough to support myself and a still save a little. $15/hr would just be a living wage for a single person. If we do this we also need to legislate that companies don’t hire 20 part-timers to do the work of 10 full-timers.

@ARE_you_kidding_me – how do you legislate that? How does the government have the authority to make staffing decisions?

Suppose the twenty part-timers are needed on mornings only? Should they stay the rest of the day and do nothing but twiddle their thumbs?

It’s dandy to say “we need a law” but it’s a little different to deal with the practicalities of how that would actually work.

That exact point came up recently on a question about automation at you guessed it! McDonald’s, @elbanditoroso, @ARE_you_kidding_me.

As labor costs increase, the incentive to decrease the work force increases. It’s simple economics.

Everyone keeps saying it’s difficult to find full time jobs, but I always find the opposite. I want a part time job that pays a decent wage.

I definitely don’t want the government dictating how many part timers and full timers a company can have.

My experience is red parts of the country tend to pay shit to labor and people who work at the lower levels of the organization. Not always true, but it’s a pattern I have observed.

Legislate it just like the rest of our labor laws.
What kills me is a company will hire “part-time” and work that person 38 hours or so. Just enough not to give them full-time benefits.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Why? I don’t really get it. You want to force companies to have full timers so they get more chances to work OT? So, they can work more than 40 hours? Be away from their families? Less work life balance? Less time to eat healthy, exercise, have some down time, pursue a hobby?

It sucks. It’s better people are paid a better wage. Americans already work a ton more than a lot of other countries. Our family life is strained, stress levels are up, our health suffers.

No thank you.

No, so they are not shorted benefits not offered to part-timers

Oh. Well, I’m totally against our system of health benefits given through the workplace, so I’ll be hard to get on board with the idea still.

There are so many other things like 401k and other retirement benefits, paid time off etc, etc…
Some health benefits are better than no benefits.
I recently left a job because of excessive overtime and stress so we are on the same page there.

I know I’m bucking a big system that won’t change so fast, even if Bernie Sanders wins~. :)

Many companies (for example retailers like Kohls and places like Dunkin Donuts) hire workers and consider anything less than 40 hours to be “part time.” No benefits for those. I heard from a coworker who has a part time job at Kohls that everyone, even management, is “part time” at Kohls.

@JLeslie; The states you talked about that pay crap wages are “right to work” states that have weak unions, because union members don’t have to pay union dues. They can get many advantages of a union, but not have to pay for it. Weak unions = poor employee benefits and rights.

@jca Sometimes it varied by specific area in a state. I was paid pretty well in Boca Raton. I think partly because a lot of the companies are NY or European based, and there are some more prestigious employers for industries like retail. In Tampa it’s closer to the “Southern” part of the state. FL is an at will state, but the southeast is full of Northeasterners.

Anything much over a nickel would be greed “justified” by hyperbole.

Then again, anything involving politics or money usually is more hyperbole than fact in this era of extremes.

Study out that minimum wage increases don’t harm restaurants.

Many years ago when the textile industry was moving overseas because of the cheaper wages I seem recall someone doing a study and finding out that the overall savings on a shirt made in Indonesia was less than a dime a piece over the cost of producing the same shirt here in the US. The point being that most folks would spend the extra dime to buy a locally (and by locally I mean here in the US) made product rather than lose the jobs to an overseas producer.

But the American public was not given that option.and this is where someone jumps in and tells me that that is just how the free market works and we are free to not buy shirts overseas and only buy domestic products even though they are no longer made/sold domestically. I challenge you to go find a US made shirt/pants/blouse/skirt/whatever in Walmart

Not that I am suggesting that McDonalds can go to a foreign market to make its’ burgers and get them back in time for me to finish my lunch. Not yet anyway.